First Parliamentary session, political understandings to form the largest bloc

politics/Investigations and reports

8-01-2022, 19:47

INA - BAGHDAD

Only a few hours ahead before the first session of the Parliament for the fifth legislative session. The winning bloc in October elections is accelerating the steps with the aim of reaching understandings that resolve the nomination of the Speaker and the two deputies first, then the presidents of the republic and the ministers, as to lay the foundation for the shape of the next government.

Between a national majority government and a consensual one, the current dialogues are taking place in a calm atmosphere, while observers believe that the Sadrist bloc will be the center of the largest bloc rightfully to name the prime minister, especially since it has the most seats of 73 members of Parliament.

”The scenario of the alliance of the strong winners (the Sadrist bloc, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Azim bloc and Takadom) has become a reality, especially after the visit of the Kurdish delegation headed by Hoshyar Zebari to the Sadrist movement," said the head of the Iraqi Political Thinking Center, Ihsan Al-Shammari, to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

He noted, "This puts us in front of the path of forming a government according to the principle of majority, not consensus,”

"The first session of Parliament may witness the registration of the largest bloc that will choose the heads of Parliament and the Republic, and then the ministers," he stressed, adding "We are in front of a semi-official announcement of this alliance hours before the first parliament session,"

For his part, political analyst Ghalib Al-Daami tild INA, that "the largest bloc will form mostly in the Shiite frame, and then the coalition will be formed with it to form the government by the Alliance of Azem, Takadum and the Kurdish Alliance," noting that "Kurdish and Sunni forces do not want union with the Shiite forces individually to form a larger bloc because they are waiting for Shiite consensus, so they are waiting for any larger Shiite bloc to be formed, whether via the Sadrist movement or the union of Shiite forces with the it,”

He also commented that it is likely that the coming hours will witness an accelerated and strong political movement to resolve this issue.

As for the Kurdish meeting with the forces in Baghdad, the winning candidate for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Sabah Subhi, revealed the details of the Kurdish delegation's meetings with political forces in Baghdad.

”The meetings came within the framework of the phase of understandings and the search for common ground," he noted, adding that "there are clear understandings for the two main Kurdish parties (the Democratic and Patriotic Union) regarding how to negotiate with other parties,”

"There were good understandings with the Sadrist bloc, and this thing was expected because it represents the most numerous parliamentary bloc, as well as because there were prior understandings before conducting the electoral process, and also because of the understanding of the legitimate rights of the Kurdish people, as well as how to look at the formation of the next government, which is a critical formation for the general situation for Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” he added.

He expressed his hope that "the prospective government will be fair and able to meet the requirements of the people," noting that "there is an explicit principle mentioned by the head of the Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, that balance, consensus and partnership are the basis of the solution to the problems in Iraq,”

"The majority government is good in international standards, but with regard to the Iraqi situation, it can be said that its work and stability will be difficult and may suffer from pitfalls and instability in the cabinet formation," he said, stressing that "the Kurdish blocs prefer that there will be consensus among all political parties,”

Subhi pointed out that "there are signs of consensus within the Shiite frame and a rapprochement between the coordination framework and al-Sadr bloc, as this matter may come out into the open and there will be an agreement to form a majority or consensual government. It is likely that the formation of the government will be led by a Sadrist,”

Regarding the positions of the president and the governor of Kirkuk, Subhi said, "The candidate for the presidency and the governor of Kirkuk has not been decided, but the agreement is very close and it can be resolved in the coming hours,”

He went on saying, "In all countries, the electoral merit is the criterion for granting positions and responsibility, because when the people choose a certain party with a majority, they will entrust it with responsibility and executive positions," noting that "the Democratic Party is the largest bloc in the Kurdistan region, and the position will be decided according to consensus between the Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union,”

"So far, there is no agreement on the person who will assume the position of President of the Republic,” he pointed out

In addition to that, the researcher in political affairs, Ziad Al-Arar, said that “the two Kurdish parties came to Baghdad to agree on the shape of the features of the last agreement, as the Sadrist movement has prior understandings with the forces in the region,” noting that “this visit comes to put the semi-final touches on the agreement. The settlement is between the Kurdish forces and parties and the Sadrist movement,”

Al-Arar told INA, that "the Sadrist movement had previously settled the matter with the Sunni forces by meeting sayyed al-Sadr with the head of Takadum Alliance, Muhammad al-Halbousi Advancein in Najaf, and we are now just waiting for the final touches,”

"The agreement is very clear between the Sadrist bloc and the Sunni parties, and the latter's issue is also resolved regarding al-Halbousi's candidacy for the presidency of Parliament," he added, noting that "the upcoming meeting between the coordination framework and the Sadrist movement in Hananah will be decisive,”

He expected that the coming hours would be full of consultations and political meetings between the bloc, the framework, the Sunni forces and with the Kurdish ones.

The Parliament was scheduled to hold its first session tomorrow, Sunday, headed by Mahmoud al-Mashhadani (the oldest member), whose agenda includes opening the door for nominations for the post of Parliament Speaker and the two deputies.